The first section of the Poloniny trail is open

Cyclists enjoy the repaired cycle paths in the Poloniny Mountains. Between Starina and the former village of Ruské, more than 14 kilometres of cycle paths have been reconstructed, as well as seven bridges and several dozen culverts. The Prešov Self-Governing Region as the main investor of the Poloniny Trail project has invested 7.4 million euros here through its own and European resources. It is also finalizing two other sections in the area, namely in the direction of Stakčín and between Ulič and Uličské Krivy.

Starina and the former village of Ruské are connected by 14.3 kilometres of reconstructed cycle paths. After more than a year of intensive construction works carried out by the Swietelsky-Slovakia company, they are now serving the cycling public. They required a total investment of EUR 7.4 million, where the resources from the IROP programme amount to EUR 5.7 million and from the Prešov regional self-government are at the level of EUR 1.7 million.

Today we are talking about the more than 14 km long finished section from Starina to Ruská, which connects to the cycling route built by the state forests and heading to the Polish side to Ruské Sedlo, which allows us a really beautiful cycling experience. But that's not all, in the near future it will be about new built or completed cycle paths also in the direction of Stakčín and between Ulič and Uličské Krivý. In total, we are already talking about 26 kilometres within the Poloniny trail cycle route, which is approximately one third of our project, and this is already a really fantastic number, said Milan Majerský, the chairman of the PSK, on Tuesday 28 May during the handover of the reconstructed cycle paths to cyclists.

In the Starina and Ruské section, construction activities focused on the removal of the original asphalt concrete roadway, which was crumbling and in several places had non-functional drainage, missing safety devices and unpaved shoulders. The 14.35 km long dedicated road was comprehensively reconstructed.

The individual bridges in the section were also renewed, more precisely three bridges over the Cirocha River, over two local streams and one bridge over Lukov and Záhradný brook. The reconstruction also included 63 culverts and a paved ditch. The culverts and wooden railings have been rebuilt and the ditches have been cleaned for almost 13 kilometres.

The aim of the project was to create new transport options for cyclists and their accessibility to basic social services, amenities and also for leisure activities of visitors to the nearby Poloniny National Park.

Cyclists gradually come to admire our beautiful Poloniny Mountains and the local natural scenery on two wheels. If we connect the national park with the district town of Snina, it will be one beautiful cycling work, which will surely attract even more foreign tourists to this corner of our region. It will help tourism and the people who live here, because it will bring them new job opportunities in terms of accommodation or catering. We take the Poloniny as a whole, and we want to create a complex of services here - that's why, in addition to the project Poloniny trail also started with road repair, building of accommodation capacities or Greenhealth projectwhich we want to make the region's localities accessible and build it into a tourist attractive environment, added M. Majerský.

Other sections of the Poloniny Trail are nearing completion. The region is building eight kilometres of new cycle paths, a cycle bench, three cycle bridges, a cycle underpass, retaining walls and an arched culvert in the direction of Stakčín at a budget of EUR 4.4 million. Between Ulič and Uličské Krivý, it is carrying out works on the completion of a 3.5 km long cycle track and is also implementing a new cycle bridge, a gazebo and an arched culvert made of a steel structure, all at an investment cost of more than 1.6 million euros.

There are also plans for the restoration of the Polonin cycling routes with a total length of almost 38 km. It concerns 1.85 km of the section in the direction of Snina, 16.8 km in the Ulič-Brezovec-Kalná Roztoka section, 0.5 km in the direction of Uličské Krivé, but also 18.4 km of the Runina-Ruský Potok, Ruský Potok-Uličské Krivé, Kalná Roztoka-Stakčínská Roztoka, Stakčínská Roztoka-Stakčín section.

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Poloniny trail is a unique project implemented within the Catching-up Regions initiative in cooperation with the European Commission and the World Bank, which is aimed at building a 74 km long cycle track. With a connection to neighbouring Poland and Ukraine, it should have a total length of up to 96 km and on the Slovak side it should pass through the cadastres of the municipalities of Stakčín, Runina, Ruský Potok, Uličské Krivé, Ulič, Brezovec, Ruská Volová, Kalná Roztoka, Stakčínska Roztoka. It is also to include ten bicycle rest areas and four observation towers. The aim of the project is to increase interest in tourism in the Poloniny National Park.

Source:Daša Jeleňová, PSK